James Delaney
|Image=Web_cast_tomhardy_taboo.jpg |Birth= |Death= |Occupation= |Friends= Brace (servant) Michael Godfrey (Friend; former classmate) |Enemies= Sir Stuart Strange Thorne Geary |Interests= |Education= |Family= Horace Delaney (father) Anna Delaney (mother) Zilpha Geary (stepsister) Thorne Geary (brother-in-law) Robert (stepbrother/son) |First appearance=Shovels and Keys |Last appearance= |Portrayer=Tom Hardy }} is a main character in the FX original drama Taboo, portrayed by Tom Hardy. Background James Keziah Delaney is a man who has been to the ends of the earth and comes back irrevocably changed. Believed to be long dead, he returns home to London from Africa to inherit what is left of his father’s shipping empire and rebuild a life for himself. But his father’s legacy is a poisoned chalice, and with enemies lurking in every dark corner, James must navigate increasingly complex territories to avoid his own death sentence. Encircled by conspiracy, murder, and betrayal, a dark family mystery unfolds in a combustible tale of love and treachery. Appearance and Personality is a no nonsense former corporal of the East India Company with an inclination to violence and insubordination. His irascible temperament is imputed to the same mental illness that afflicted his mother. Actually, James is a man capable of being charitable and friendly with those few who counts among his allies. James has beliefs and rituals learned from his stay in Africa, making him odd in the eyes of the British. During his training at the East India Company, James proved to be an outstanding cadet, skilled in all manner of tasks. James is a man in his late twenties with a well-proportioned build, unshaven oval face marked by some scars, and blue eyes. James has several tribal tattoos all over his body, adequately covered by clothing. History Covered with an overcoat during a rainstorm, James buried a bag before spurring his horse toward London. Entered the morgue, he stole the coins placed on the eyes of his late father and, later, he put the coins in the offertory during the funeral, leaving those present shocked by his presence as long believed dead. Greater shock when, during the burial, he murmured strange words as he painted his face with red dust. Approached by his sister and her husband, James showed himself unfriendly, with his brother-in-law at least. By contrast was his meeting with his servant Brace, who he met when he returned to his old home. The two had a long conversation before the fire, digging unpleasant memories of the past. The next day, James went to the old offices of his family at the docks, where he discovered that Helga von Hinten took the unused warehouse as a brothel. Irritated, the two had an altercation resulting in a profit-sharing of the brothel revenue. Moreover, James tried to remedy the wrongdoing of his father to his tenants, providing monetarily for the maintenance of a kid, believed to be his father's illegitimate son under Ibbotson's care. By night, Delaney visited the mortuary where a physician was intent on studying the recently stolen corpse of Horace Delaney, because James wanted to find out the causes of his father's death. The place, however, triggered disturbing visions in James, where he removed the shrouds from some corpses in a slave-ship, and apparently raised the corpse of a black slave coming forth to judge him. In the following days, Delaney went to the headquarters of the East India Company in London to discuss his legacy, proving right away little tolerance to the creeping hypocrisy among men who received him in a luxurious room. Back home, James found a letter secretly sent by his sister, in which she begged him to let the secrets of the past "buried in a deeper grave" After retrieving the bag buried before his return to London, James began to secure rough diamonds contained inside it in a recently purchased safety deposit box, after having sent a diamond to his sister Zilpha. Downtown, James bought a ship at an auction on behalf of his own shipping company, attracting the attention of Wilton and the East India Company. His presence in London did not go unnoticed and in fact he was approached by Atticus, former sailor in the pay of his father, who informed him of a gentleman who tried to recruit Atticus to kill Horace Delaney. The man was later identified as his brother in law, Thorne Gaery. Another hint of a potential assailant came from Winter, a young mulatto that by night approached James at the dock, telling him that Helga was conspiring behind him. Indicating a moored boat as the hiding of commissioned killer, the two embarked toward the moored ship. However, when James reached the ship he found nothing but rats and a few coins. He decided, therefore, to set fire to the ship. Even worse was what he found aboard the "Felice Adventurero", the recently acquired ship which turned out to be a slave ship. Overwhelmed by dreadful visions, James got rid of his clothes and, completely naked, began to exorcise the ship carving designs on the floorboards, and breaking the chains while chanting in Twi language, later throwing a few pieces of colored glass into the sea. With awareness of slave trades on behalf of the East India Company, Delaney tried to get in touch with Dumbarton, an American doctor who could have put him in contact with the dense network of American spies, but the two soon arrived at loggerheads. When he thought he had solved his problems with his father's legacy, as the sole heir, Lorna Bow made her appearance at the attorney's office, claiming to be the widow of Horace Delaney. After the fiasco to mend relations with his sister, James was stabbed by a masked assailant while walking in a dark alley. In turn, Delaney savagely mauled the assailant's neck. Survived the attack thanks to the timely rescue of a Dumbarton spy, James haggled with yankee doctor about the possibility of contacting Carlsbad; James Delaney demanded the monopoly on the tea trade in exchange for valuable help against the British Crown and the East India Company. Meanwhile, Dumbarton stitched his wounds. Determined to carry on his plans, and accompanied by Brace, James settled a few trades with Atticus at the port; Later, he met with Thoyt to draw up his testamentary wills, leaving everything as an inheritance to the fifteen Free States of America. In slowing down his plans occurred the terrifying visions of the past when James visited his deceased mother's bedroom, also bringing it to seek analogies with the Sankofa (tribal bird) marked between his shoulder blades, and the one engraved in hood of the fireplace. Even more determined to discover the past misdeeds of his father and prepare for revenge against the East India Company, James visited a brothel for men only, where he forced "Godders", Company's clerk, as well as his former classmate in love with him, to become his informant about Company's private affairs. After exchanging a few letters with his sister Zilpha, in which he remarked his love for the woman and the opportunity to run away together from outdated social norms and sorrow, the siblings met secretly in church but only after James had had an unpleasant conversation with his brother in law. Meanwhile, Lorna Bow showed up at Delaney mansion claiming to be its co-owner. James was forced to rush to the rescue of Lorna when the woman was involved in a brawl with a rich man who wanted to use her as a prostitute. James, sitting before the fireplace, was intent on having a vision of him floating in the water when the soldiers broke into the house to arrest Lorna Bow. James had time to warn the woman what to do before it was swept away by the constables. When Lorna was exonerated and returned home, James again offered her his protection in exchange for an alliance. Later, he visited James Godfrey to be made aware of the East India Company plans. Urged by the desire for full notta, wearing only a shirt James knelt before the fireplace and began chanting incomprehensible recitations, dirtying the face of pigments and soot, and blowing smoke and wine on the flames. In doing so, James was apparently able to unleash erotic dreams in his sister. Totally intrigued by the show of the chemist George Cholmondeley, James offered him a job as a member of his entourage of criminals. He held so consideration of the scientist's skills to offer him a desolate farmhouse in the countryside as a new factory where creating his explosives. While visiting the farm, James was attacked by a muscular bloke who found a quick death at the hands of the same Delaney, over-excited by the murder so as to cut the man's tendons of the legs and disembowel him. James received an invitation from the Countess Musgrove, and he showed up at the soiree together with Lorna Bow. The party was a triumph of alcohol and laughter, and quickly turned into an obscene feast. Not at all interested in taking part in it, James had the opportunity to be alone with the Countess, who turned out to be no other than "Carlsbad". The two agreed to a covenant before James would find himself in a fight with Thorne; the latter then challenged him to a duel in front of all the guests, including a shocked Zilpha. Accepted the challenge, James went to the predefined location early in the morning on board of a small boat and without a second. Thorne Geary's gun loaded with blanks pushed him to doubt the loyalty of his brother-in-law's companion, so James shot him fatally. Back home, James decided to have breakfast on the beach with Lorna, where asked her once again to give him his father's trunk. The rest of the day was so full of commitments; after brutally hurt a spy who was at his heels, James reached Cholmondeley to note the progress in the processing of chemical compounds, carrying his little stepbrother as assistant to the chemist. James then visited the criminals of the Dolphin Inn, where he tore the thumb of a traitor as a warning to all others, before going to Helga's prostitutes, warning them about the soldiers' intentions. In the evening, James performed a ritual on the lakeshore, where he had a vision of himself covered with ashes, and immersed into the lake. The premonition was accompanied by the sound of a explosion, but when James asked explanations to the chemist, he denied that any explosion had occurred outside of his vision. At home, James burned all the drawings and the letters of his father recovered from the trunk, in search of the document in which it was drawn up the sale of Nootka Sound and his own mother from a native tribe. After a discussion with Lorna, she pointed to the man a secret compartment where the document was hidden. The next day, James was solicited by Dumbarton to shorten the processing time of making gunpowder; a request that led to an argument between James and Cholmondeley because of the danger of using chlorate. James then visited the Countess, so that the parties of the agreement be respected even if James refused to hand over the document until he had trusted the woman. Memorable Quotes :"I witnessed and participated in darkness that you cannot conceive." :― James Delaney ---- :"People who do not know me soon come to understand that I do not have any sense." :― James Delaney to Helga ---- :"I do know the evil that you do, because I was once part of it." :― James Delaney to Sir Stuart Strange ---- :"I have sworn to do very foolish things" :― James Delaney ---- :"I know things about the dead." :― James Delaney ---- :"I am inside your heads, gentlemen. Always." :― James Delaney ---- Images Appearances Notes * His full name is James Keziah Delaney. * The mysterious words Hardy’s character uses throughout the episode are from the Twi language, spoken by of the native Ashanti people from Ghana, Africa. The programme was advised on the language by Naomi Fletcher, Anthnoy Dwomo and Akwasi Amponsah from The Cultural Group. Radiotimes.com 13 burning question on Taboo * There are many legends on James Delaney and his time spent in Africa. One of these concerns cannibalism. Others are raids, massacres and bestial brutality. * According to Winter, James Delaney would be a werewolf with knowledge of the magical arts. ** The connections to the supernatural are reinforced by James Delaney's beliefs and behaviors, including the recitation of prayers and incantations. Through the use of herbs and fumigations, James is able to have disturbing visions but it is unknown whether these visions are real, simple memories, or the result of a deviant mind. ** One of the rumors spread throughout London concerning the alliance between James and the Devil himself, and some claim that James is himself a devil. * Although Robert is believed to be Horace Delaney's illegitimate child, there is the possibility that he might be a result of the relationship between James and Zilpha. Who Is The Boy In 'Taboo'? Episode 5 May Reveal Robert's Mysterious Identity References Category:Male Character